A Bold Step Forward
by hinatasgreatestfan
Summary: Hinata found herself presented with the opportunity to get Naruto's attention on a silver platter. With newfound boldness, she takes the opportunity in hand. NaruHina
1. An Opportunity Not Missed

Chapter 1

Hinata Hyuga slowly regained consciousness. _"What happened?"_ she asked herself.

"I can't go! Akamaru and I have to stick together to use our combo attack!" she heard Kiba Inuzuka, her teammate, saying from nearby. She almost giggled at the thought of Akamaru and Kiba being separated. It just didn't make sense.

"_Now I remember. I saw Naruto! And I..."_ her train of thought continued. She heard her long-time crush, Naruto Uzumaki, acknowledging Kiba's point and saying something to Shino Aburame, her other teammate. _"What is Naruto doing?"_ she wondered, not hearing what Shino said in response.

"Okay! Forget it, forget it! Some friends you are!" Naruto said, his voice betraying his obvious frustration.

"_That's his voice...Naruto's voice..."_ she thought, then got the shock of her life. Out of nowhere, Naruto was _right there in front of her!_

"Hinata," he said, his voice low, conspiratorial. "Don't say a word, just come with me, and let's get outta here!"

"_Don't say a word, just come with me? It's so sudden! But...this may be my chance!"_ she thought. _"And he did say to come with him! Maybe he's finally noticed me! I can't let this chance go! I may never get another!"_ With that thought in mind, she launched herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, much to Naruto's obvious shock. "I'd follow you anywhere, Naruto," she whispered in his ear.

Naruto was in shock. He'd been trying to get either Shino or Kiba to come with him to help him and Sakura to deal with this spy Sasori had working in Orochimaru's organization. They couldn't pass up this chance to find Sasuke, after all. Then, when he'd gone to Hinata as a last-ditch effort to get someone from Team Eight, the girl had launched herself at him and...well, for lack of a better word, glomped him! And then she'd told him she'd follow him anywhere! Wait...was this just her way of saying she respected him as a leader?

Not entirely sure why he was doing it even as he did, Naruto slowly hugged Hinata back. "Thanks, Hinata," he said. "At least I know one of our old group will be loyal to me when I become Hokage!"

Hinata froze. Loyal? Hokage? That's...not exactly what she meant. She pulled back and looked at her blond crush. Naruto was grinning widely, and his arms were still around her a bit. "Y-Y-You were just looking...for another teammate f-for a m-m-mission, weren't you?" she stammered, her cheeks feeling like they were on fire.

"Well, yeah! What did you think I was doing?" Naruto asked back. Behind him, Kiba face-palmed, and Shino shook his head and muttered something about "stupid, unobservant blonds". Ignoring them, Naruto took his arms from around Hinata and stood back up; he'd been bending over to talk to her. Holding out one hand, he helped the still-blushing girl to her feet. "Well, come on! I'm sure Sakura and Granny Tsunade are waiting for us up in the Hokage's office by now."

Hinata nodded slowly. "All right, Naruto," she said. "Let's go." The two friends took off toward the Hokage Tower, neither noticing the pale-skinned, black-haired boy about their age who was tailing them.

xxxxxx

Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura Haruno, Naruto's old teammate, were standing in front of the Hokage's desk, waiting for the Hokage, Tsunade Senju, to begin speaking. Tsunade had her fingers laced together in front of her face and looked like she was thinking deeply about the situation in front of her.

"Hinata," Tsunade began. "We have reason to believe that we've found a lead on the whereabouts of Sasuke Uchiha. Your presence here indicates that you are willing to go with Naruto and Sakura on the mission that they are being assigned, which is to follow up on this lead and, if possible, extract the Uchiha and return him to the village, correct?"

Hinata blushed as she remembered how she had misunderstood Naruto's comment to her, but she nodded. "Yes, Lady Hokage!" she said. "It would be an honor to accompany them in search of their teammate."

Tsunade grinned; this was _perfect_. Hinata going with them might not prevent Danzo from adding his...underling to their team, but it would certainly help keep said underling in check. "Good, then," she said, her eyes twinkling. "Naruto, Sakura, Hinata, you three are hereby ordered to journey to the Tenchi Bridge in the Village Hidden in the Grass, meet with Sasori's spy, capture him if possible, and do everything you can to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha from Orochimaru's clutches. You will be joined by a member of the ANBU Black Ops, Yamato, and an extra team member. Sai, I believe his name is." She held up a hand when she saw Naruto about to object to this. "I know, Naruto. I'm not too happy about it, either, but there have been five-man squads before, and the advisors insisted I add him to the team for the duration of this mission. I hate to say it, but this is an order. You'll just have to deal with it."

Naruto slowly nodded. He didn't like this, but there wasn't much he could do about it. "When and where are we supposed to meet this Yamato then?" he asked.

Tsunade looked at the clock on her wall. "He and Sai should be at the main gates waiting for you right about now," she told him. "So get out of here you three, and if Yamato has an issue with you being there, Hinata, tell him you're there on my orders."

"Yes, Lady Hokage," Hinata said.

"Good, then. Dismissed!" Tsunade said, and the three ninja disappeared from her office in the blink of an eye.

xxxxxx

Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura had spent several minutes waiting for Yamato and Sai to arrive. Once the two did, some brief introductions were exchanged, and the squad set out on their way to the Hidden Grass Village. Sai was pale, his hair dark and slightly greasy, and his overall attitude, looks, and demeanor were eerie reminders of Sasuke to Naruto and Sakura. Hinata, who had never been close to Sasuke, saw the resemblance, but she didn't really care; she was too busy pinching herself to make sure she was _really_ on a mission with Naruto!

"Why do you keep staring at me?" Naruto asked Sai after what felt like hours had passed in silence.

Sai gave a smile that _everyone_ could tell was fake. "I'm just trying to figure you out," he responded, his voice cheery, yet somehow hollow. "I was told you were nothing special. That you were weak, the dead last of your class, and a total knucklehead. Yet I see you here being quiet, calm, seemingly collected, and completely focused. Everything I see flies in the face of what I've been told. Perhaps the other things I've heard are just rumors as well."

Naruto looked at Sai a moment, thinking about what he'd said; at least Sai seemed willing to give him a fair chance and not judge him based on rumors. Still... "What else have you heard?" he asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Why, that your dick is so small it might as well be nonexistent, of course!" Sai answered blithely, clearly seeing nothing at all wrong with this statement. He was still smiling as he said it!

Everyone else froze. Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, and Yamato stood stock-still in the middle of the road. It took Sai a second to realize everyone had stopped, at which point he turned and came back to them. His smile never wavered.

"Um, Sai, why would you say that?" Sakura asked. "Are you trying to insult Naruto?"

Sai's smile never changed at all. He didn't even flinch under the barely concealed anger being directed at him by Naruto, Sakura, and, surprisingly, Hinata. "Of course not. He asked me what I had heard, I told him, that's all," he informed them, his voice still in the same eerie monotone he'd spoken in from the first moment they'd seen him.

Naruto and Sakura took deep breaths. _"He must just be some kind of hermit or something,"_ both of them thought. _"We really should be nice, give him a chance, not just assume he's trying to be mean."_ Both of them seemed to calm down as they took deep breaths.

Shocking everyone, except maybe Sai, who still registered no emotion whatsoever, Hinata surged forward and gripped Sai by the front of his shirt. "How dare you insult Naruto!" she yelled at him. Sai's eyes showed he was in some pain as the Hyuga heiress shook him by his collar. He was about to say something, but Hinata wouldn't hear of it. "No, damn it, you will listen to me! Our whole village has done nothing but run Naruto into the ground every chance it's had his whole life! He's finally gaining a little bit of respect as a few people in the village are finally seeing him as who he is, and not some monster! I will NOT have you insulting him in front of me like that!"

By now, Hinata was roaring. As she continued, her Byakugan flared to life. Sai's eyes registered fear for the first time. Even Naruto, watching from a distance away, had to admit Hinata was pretty scary-looking like that. Hinata took a second to see if Naruto...measured up, then returned her attention to Sai, Byakugan still on. She spoke quieter now, but everyone there agreed silently that her quiet anger was far more terrifying than her angry shouting. "I'll have you know that his assets are perfectly satisfactory. Besides, it's not like that would make any difference at all to you or anyone else since, no matter how big or small it is, it's _mine!"_

It took everyone a second to realize what Hinata had just said. When they did, several things happened at once. Hinata dropped Sai, backing away from him and burying her burning face in her hands. Naruto stared at Hinata in shock, not sure what to say or think. Sakura burst out laughing until she was rolling on the ground clutching her sides. Sai looked at everyone, confused. And Yamato just grinned at Hinata and shook his head slightly. _"That may not be how I expected her to keep the peace,"_ he thought to himself. _"But it sure was effective."_

It was true. Between Naruto's shock, Hinata's embarrassment, Sakura's amusement, and Sai's utter confusion, the fight that had been brewing just minutes before was completely forgotten, and the tension that had filled the air was broken. The group returned their attention to putting ground behind them; they were on a time limit, after all.

xxxxxx

As evening approached, Yamato suggested they stop at a hot spring for the evening and have a hot meal and a good rest before continuing their journey. Everyone was more than happy to agree to this, though Naruto's agreement was somewhat distracted and Hinata's even quieter than she usually was. Naruto was still thinking about what Hinata had said to Sai, and Hinata was caught between embarrassment that she had said that, and fear that Naruto would think poorly of her for having said it.

Had Hinata known the track Naruto's thoughts were following, she would probably have blushed even darker than she did before, and most likely have fainted. _"Hinata said my...assets were satisfactory...What did she mean? Was she talking about what Sai said about my dick being small?" _he thought to himself. He'd been worrying over this for hours now, ever since hearing Hinata's tirade against the pale boy. _"But...how would she know how big it is? And then she said that it's...hers! Was she really trying to say she wants...my dick?"_

As Naruto was thinking about this, the group sat down to eat what Yamato loosely called "dinner". "Feast" was more like it, and Naruto, Sakura, Hinata, and even Sai seemed to enjoy it immensely. Looking over at the indigo-haired girl between bites, Naruto couldn't help but notice how she had changed since he last saw her, back before he left with Jiraiya on the training journey. Her baggy jacket was still in place, but this one was much more filled with her body, so he could see her curves in spite of her efforts to hide them. As he looked up at her face, he almost kicked himself for never noticing before how pretty she was when she was smiling. There was such a look of peace about her that he couldn't help wondering how he'd missed it all that time. His eyes ran up and down the girl a few more times, noticing her firm legs, her flat stomach, and her round bottom. He noticed that her figure was _perfect_ in every sense of the word. There wasn't an ounce of fat on the girl that didn't belong where it was, and her muscle tone was as good as his, if not better. Naruto shifted uncomfortably; he had never been so glad to be sitting down: that way no one would see that his roaming eyes had left him with a slight erection!

After everyone's stomachs were filled to bursting, the group adjourned to the hot springs. Naruto, Sai, and Yamato were in the men's spring, while Hinata and Sakura were in the women's, a wooden fence separating the two. As Naruto was lowering himself into the water, Sai stared at his erection. "I must apologize, Naruto," he said as the blond settled in the water. "It would seem the rumor I heard was completely untrue. Your dick is quite impressive." Naruto would have yelled at Sai for that, but the thought fled his mind when he heard giggles from the other side of the fence. He blushed and sank as deep into the water as he could. His eyes were just above the water, and they were turned on Sai with a glare so fierce, Yamato was surprised the pale boy didn't burst into flames under the heat of Naruto's gaze.

xxxxxx

Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, and Sai were hidden behind a large rock. They could all easily see the Tenchi Bridge nearby. The bridge, which spanned over a deep gorge, seemed to always have a stiff wind whipping around it. They had arrived here yesterday, and spent the intervening time planning and practicing for what was about to happen. Yamato was on the bridge, disguised as Sasori using a Wood Style Transformation, and now all they had to do was wait for Sasori's spy to make his appearance. Their practice run the previous day had gone off without a hitch. Naruto was surprised to find he and Hinata worked as a perfect team, while Sakura and Sai were able to get along at least well enough to get their part done.

Naruto was the first to hear a disturbance on the bridge, and all four focused their eyes on it. A figure was approaching Yamato from the far side of the bridge. Now all they needed to do was wait for their signal and pounce at the right time. Hinata's Byakugan was active, watching the two figures on the bridge. She was surprised to find that Sasori's spy seemed familiar to her somehow, but she couldn't place him. Suddenly, the spy turned and attacked Yamato! His hand was coated in chakra that even Naruto could see easily; it was an odd green shade, and where it came in contact with Yamato's wooden disguise, the disguise shattered as if it were made of glass.

Naruto almost made a move for the bridge right then, but Hinata's hand on his shoulder stilled him. She pointed to the far side of the bridge again, where another figure could be seen coming out to join the two already on the bridge. As this one wasn't wearing anything to obscure his features, Naruto and Sakura recognized him in an instant. Naruto made no further attempt to move toward the bridge, but he did growl out the name of the newest addition to the bridge's occupants: "Orochimaru!"


	2. In Pursuit of Traitors

Chapter 2

As Orochimaru approached Yamato, the ANBU assumed his battle stance. The snake Sannin had a creepy smile plastered on his face, and he was a little too in control of himself for Naruto's tastes. _"That bastard never loses his cool, does he?"_ Naruto thought to himself. _"In that case, I should probably keep myself under control, too."_ He knew, of course, that that would be easier said than done, but he knew he had to try at least; he couldn't very well risk hurting Hinata or Sakura.

As the team watched, Orochimaru came to within speaking distance of Yamato, who still had yet to move. The team was waiting for Yamato to signal for them to come out of hiding and do something, but he simply stood there, seemingly listening to the Sannin.

Unbeknownst to the team, Yamato hadn't signaled for them for two main reasons. First off, he didn't want them anywhere near the snake summoner, but secondly, he was too shocked to do anything. Orochimaru, upon reaching a point where he could speak to Yamato without shouting, had said something the ANBU had _never _expected to hear from Orochimaru of all people. "I have no quarrel with you or your team," Orochimaru had said simply.

Yamato kept his eyes on Orochimaru carefully and asked, "Why should I believe that you don't have a quarrel with us when it is your goal to destroy the Hidden Leaf Village?"

Orochimaru grinned at the ANBU captain and answered, "While it is true I wish to see that village ground into dust, there is a much more pressing issue that must be taken care of first. You see, I heard a rumor a few days ago that a Leaf ninja had defeated a member of Akatsuki. When I saw you here, I assumed that the rumors were just that and that Sasori had shown up here as planned. Obviously, I now see that that is not the case, so I must assume that the rumor I heard was true. Now, since you're here, I assume that either you or someone with whom you have had contact is the one who defeated Sasori. That being the case, I have no desire to do you any harm. We have a shared enemy. I want Akatsuki destroyed as much as anyone."

Yamato thought about the man's words, then asked, "So, what you're saying is, you want us to help you get rid of Akatsuki so you can stab us in the back and try to destroy us later?"

Orochimaru laughed his rather distinctive laugh before responding, "If that was my intention, do you really think I'd be talking to you now rather than trying to kill you? No, indeed, I am actually offering you all a chance to join me!"

Yamato snorted. "And of course, you'd want to continue your inhumane experiments on us, just like you did to me all those years ago," he said, his contempt for the man in front of him obvious in his voice. "None of us will ever join you."

Orochimaru shook his head, seemingly disappointed. "I had a feeling you would say that. Kabuto, now!" he said.

The so-called "spy", Kabuto Yakushi, tossed aside his cloak and attacked Yamato. Yamato dodged quickly. Getting into close quarters with the "spy", he managed to slip something into the young man's pocket. Then he went on the attack, signaling his team as he did so. Yamato began to use Wood Style jutsu to attack Kabuto and Orochimaru as Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, and Sai showed up on the bridge.

Naruto was the first to attack, with Hinata as his backup. The two went after Orochimaru, pushing him back off the bridge to give Sakura and Sai as much room to work with as possible. Naruto created three clones, two of whom attacked Orochimaru along with Hinata, the combination of which kept Orochimaru from being able to attack effectively whilst Naruto and his third clone formed a Giant Rasengan. The two ran forward, plowing through his other two clones as they moved, dispelling them in the process. The giant ball of swirling chakra was plunged into the stomach of the reptilian man, who was sent flying into a tree with a resounding, and satisfying, crash. To Naruto and Hinata's shock, Orochimaru grinned at them before opening his mouth wide. He looked like he was throwing up or something, but what emerged was...himself?

Naruto looked at Hinata, his eyes a bit worried after that display. Hinata's eyes were hard, her lips set in a grim line as she contemplated their chances of victory against an enemy such as this.

Just then, Orochimaru addressed the two. "It would seem even the two of you combined aren't as strong as _my_ Sasuke," he said in the creepy tone that qualified as "normal" for him. "You're not even worth my time."

Orochimaru was expecting to make at least one of the two ninja in front of him mad by saying that, which he did. What he got wrong, however, was the cause of the rage he elicited. Naruto growled out, "Don't talk about Sasuke...like you own him...especially in front of me!" He then let out a loud roar and fell to all fours as a cloak of red chakra formed around him. Hinata leapt backward away from him to get out of his way. Naruto moved so quickly the ground where he had been standing gained a crater with a two-foot radius after he leapt. Hinata shivered slightly at the display of raw power; it was a little creepy.

Hinata watched in shock as Naruto attacked Orochimaru with inhuman speed and power. _"So this is the power of the Kyubi,"_ she thought to herself, remembering as she thought it when she and the rest of the Rookies had been told about Naruto's burden. Upon reaching Chunin rank, they had been entrusted with his secret and told exactly what it meant. They had also been warned that, if he should ever exhibit signs of releasing the Kyubi, they should get out of his way for their own safety. In accordance with that warning, Hinata was currently staying out of his way, but she wasn't about to let him out of her sight if she could help it.

Meanwhile, Naruto's cloak had gained four tails. Naruto now looked like he was a solid mass of moving red and black chakra in the shape of a four-tailed fox. Orochimaru was taking quite a few blows from the thing Naruto had become, but he had yet to take any serious damage. The snake Sannin opened his mouth, and a huge sword sprang from his gullet. It impacted with Naruto's body just below his ribcage and sent him flying back to the far side of the bridge, near where the team had hidden while watching the encounter between Yamato and Kabuto. Hinata chewed one of her knuckles nervously as Naruto left her field of vision. Naruto simply used one "hand" to push the sword aside, showing that there wasn't even a mark where the sword had impacted. Moving quickly, he was back to where Orochimaru was in an instant. Hinata was shocked at how quickly the young man reappeared.

Naruto slashed at Orochimaru as he moved back to where the Sannin had been waiting, sending him skipping across the ground until he stopped nearly fifty yards away. Using the distance between them to his advantage, Naruto looked up. Hinata watched in shock as a huge ball of chakra formed above the boy. As they continued to watch, he compacted it down to the size of a grapefruit. Then, as Hinata watched in confusion, the boy opened his mouth impossibly wide and _swallowed_ it. She saw Orochimaru's lips move, but she couldn't hear him as he muttered, "So that's what he's up to." Next, she saw him bite both of his thumbs. He slammed his hands to the ground, causing three huge gate-like things covered in spikes with chains hanging off them and with evil-looking faces glaring at Naruto to appear in front of him just as the jinchuriki spat a stream of pure chakra at him. Hinata watched as the chakra slammed into the first of the three gates. Her jaw slowly dropped open as it annihilated the three gates in a split second and slammed into the snake Sannin with full force, leaving nothing behind. Hinata slowly closed her mouth and waited to see what would happen now that Orochimaru was seemingly defeated.

xxxxxx

While Naruto and Orochimaru fought, Sakura and Sai faced off against Kabuto. Knowing that he was a medic, Sakura knew that any blow Kabuto landed on them could easily be fatal, and she had told Sai this. As such, the two were being extremely careful not to let him touch them at all. Having trained for two years in the art of dodging, Sakura didn't have much trouble avoiding Kabuto. Sai, for his part, was an ANBU, so he found dodging Kabuto relatively easy as well.

Kabuto was getting frustrated with his inability to land even a single blow on these two. Of course, neither of them was doing much to him, either, but he was beyond tired of this fight. Unfortunately, Lord Orochimaru had ordered him to leave them all alive in the hopes that they would take down another member of Akatsuki. Kabuto had tried to tell them this, but none of them seemed to be in the mood to listen. Kabuto snarled to himself, "This is so not worth it."

Sai stopped attacking. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, his voice as monotonous as ever.

Sakura stopped attacking as well, waiting to see what Kabuto would say. "I can't kill you, I was ordered to leave you alive, and you're both being seriously annoying. Let's just stop this fight and prevent any unnecessary damage to either of us," the silver-haired man said.

Sakura and Sai slowly assumed more relaxed poses, but both were still on guard. Kabuto smiled. "I'm glad you can see reason," he said, then simply vanished in a cloud of smoke.

xxxxxx

Hinata was surprised to see Kabuto show up out of nowhere. "Lord Orochimaru!" he called out. "The fight is over, please show yourself." To Hinata's surprised eyes, Orochimaru sprang from under the ground, his tongue wrapped around Naruto's neck, and lifted the boy into the air. He threw Naruto away from the battlefield before coming to rest near Kabuto.

"Well done, Kabuto," the reptilian man said. "Perhaps it is time we withdraw." Hinata thought about attacking them, but she thought better of it; she knew she wouldn't stand any chance against them. Just as she was about to turn and head back to find the rest of the team, however, she got another shock.

xxxxxx

As Naruto landed near where Sakura and Sai were still standing as they wondered what Kabuto's game was, Yamato moved in and slammed a hand onto the fox-like boy's chest. As he pulled back, what looked like a green string attached his hand to the boy. Several spiked pillars made of wood sprang up around Naruto. "HOKAGE STYLE ELDER JUTSU: TENTH EDICT OF ENLIGHTENMENT!" Yamato called out. Before Sakura's very eyes, the red and black mass of chakra surrounding Naruto began to recede, leaving a very raw-skinned Naruto behind. She moved quickly and began to heal her teammate. When Yamato turned to where Sai had been, he was surprised to find the boy had vanished. _"So, Lady Tsunade was right. It seems Sai has finally begun to act,"_ he thought to himself.

xxxxxx

Hinata was surprised when Sai showed up in front of Orochimaru and Kabuto. He had been riding on a giant bird made out of his ink. As she watched, he handed over a folder to Orochimaru. She was just far enough away that she couldn't hear anything the trio was saying, but she did see all three of them leave the clearing together. _"So, that's his game, huh?"_ she thought to herself before leaving the clearing to find Captain Yamato; she had to let him know what had happened!

xxxxxx

Unbeknowst to Hinata, Yamato had sent a wood clone after Naruto, and the clone had already told him about Sai's actions. As such, Naruto, Sakura, and Yamato were already heading toward the battlefield when Hinata was on her way back to them, and the four met up midway. "Captain Yamato!" Hinata called out. "Sai has gone with Orochimaru and Kabuto!"

Yamato gave Hinata a small gesture to follow as the others kept moving by her. Hinata fell in with them, and the group kept moving. "Yes, I know," Yamato told her. "I have a wood clone following them."

"I wonder what Sai's main goal is," Sakura commented rhetorically.

"I'm not sure, but I can tell you who ordered it," Yamato responded. "Danzo Shimura is the head of a special training organization within ANBU known as the Foundation. This would make him Sai's superior and most likely the one who ordered Sai's betrayal."

Naruto filed away the name for later; now was hardly the time to worry about some old geezer back in the village, but he wasn't about to forget that this Danzo had put not only their mission but their lives in jeopardy by sending Sai with them. After a minute, he asked, "Didn't Granny Tsunade say her advisors insisted on Sai being sent with us, too?"

Yamato nodded. "That's true, Naruto, she did mention that. I guess those two must be in cahoots with Danzo. I'm not entirely sure why, but it's worth noting, for sure." Taking a deep breath, he added, "And if I find out Danzo is in cahoots with Orochimaru, those three old codgers had better pray to whatever god they pray to that I don't find them alive." As he spoke, his face took on an _extremely_ creepy aspect, which made everyone else unconsciously back away from Yamato a bit.

"_I hope he never looks at _me_ like that!"_ Naruto thought. _"That's creepy."_

"_I wonder why Captain Yamato hates Orochimaru so much,"_ Sakura pondered. _"Not that I blame him, but somehow I think he's had some dealings with the snake Sannin before this."_

Hinata shivered slightly. _"I can't remember anyone but Father making me feel so low as this with just a look before,"_ she thought to herself. _"I sincerely hope that's the first and last time I ever see that look on Captain Yamato's face!"_

After that, everyone fell silent out of necessity; Yamato was too busy brooding over what he would do to the councilors if they were in fact in cahoots with Orochimaru to talk to anyone, and the others were too busy being scared of him to say anything. The remainder of the trip was, as a result, eerily silent; the only sounds the group made were the creaks of branches as they leapt from one to the next through the trees. Even the wildlife around them was oddly silent as they passed through the forest.

xxxxxx

After what felt like a lifetime but was probably only half an hour, Yamato called the group to a stop to make camp for the night. Naruto thought about protesting that they could keep going, but, between being honestly exhausted and not wanting to face Yamato's creepy face, he thought better of it. The small group made camp in the same eerie silence in which they had spent the last leg of their journey.

Once camp was made and everyone had done their part to prepare for the night, Naruto had finally had enough. He had been getting progressively more and more antsy as time had gone on, and the silent process of making camp had been the final push he needed. He let out a frighteningly feral yell, which caused what sounded like dozens of birds to take to the air with noisy squawks from their nearby roosts. He turned to the team with a grin. Yamato was looking at him curiously while Hinata and Sakura were looking at him like he had lost his mind. "Sorry," he said, sounding slightly sheepish. "I just couldn't take any more of the silence. It was driving me crazy!"

Hinata nervously started to giggle at the blond's antics. Soon, Sakura joined her, and eventually all three teenagers were rolling around on the ground, holding their bellies as they laughed uproariously. It wasn't that any of them found anything particularly funny, they were just releasing tension. Yamato shook his head at the three of them and, once they all calmed down, told them, "You're all insane." No one bothered to try to correct him.

It didn't take long after that before everyone retired to sleep. Naruto's sleep was less than restful as he continuously dreamed of Yamato's creepy face plastered on Orochimaru's body. It would be several years before _that_ particular image would stop haunting him. Sakura didn't sleep particularly well, either, as her dreams were haunted by a creepy-looking Sasuke who laughed in a way that reminded her a little too much of Orochimaru. Even Yamato's sleep was less than completely peaceful; he kept reliving the experiments Orochimaru had performed on him all those years ago, none of which were particularly pleasant memories, and his dreams just made them all the more unpleasant.

As for Hinata, she slept deeply and well as her dreams were filled with Naruto. Mostly, she dreamed of him holding her in his arms as they slept together. Later, she would scold herself for being a silly girl and dreaming of things she would never dare hope would really happen, but, for now, she was content to just dream.

When everyone awoke the next morning, Naruto, Sakura, and Yamato were surprised to find that Hinata was in an extremely chipper mood. None of them bothered to ask, but they all wondered how she could dare to be so upbeat after the nights _they_ had gone through; it just wasn't right!

After breaking camp, the group resumed their journey and arrived at what seemed to be an underground base within a few hours. Yamato's wood clone met them there and briefly explained the situation to them; the clone had seen his quarry enter this facility late the previous night, and he could sense that Sai was still in there, courtesy of the seeds Yamato had slipped into Sai's pocket and food the previous day. Upon hearing this, Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura all thought, _"So, THAT'S why he bought us that insane feast! He was just making sure Sai got that seed into him."_

After the explanation was over, Yamato handed each of the other three a seed. "Swallow this. I'll be able to keep track of you in case we get separated in here," he said. Naruto shrugged and swallowed it. After seeing that there was no ill effect from doing so, Sakura and Hinata followed suit.

That done, the small group turned their attention to getting into the facility. Yamato stepped forward and used his Wood Style to create a square tunnel into the wall. Surprising the others, the formation of the hole was almost entirely silent. Naruto grinned, Sakura nodded, and Hinata smiled, then all four of them slid into the hole and into Orochimaru's base. Everyone's eyes were hard, determined; in this very facility, they might just find Sasuke Uchiha and, they hoped, bring him back to the Hidden Leaf Village. Hinata activated her Byakugan, and soon the group had vanished from their point of ingress in search of the rogue Uchiha. The assault on the snake Sannin's base had begun.


End file.
